Adnams Southwold bottled beers

I'm a bit of a saddo in many ways. Illustrated by my level of excitement about finding this advertisement:

Diss Express - Friday 30 December 1938, page 8.

Why, I hear you ask.? Because I can match it up with the beers in a brewing record. As I have a very full set of Adnams records (thanks Fergus).

But this is even more special, as there are such specific claims about the ingredients used. It claims: "English Barley Malt only". And also "These three Beers are guaranteed now, for some years past, brewed from English Barley Malt, English Hops, and Cane Sugar only."

You see these boasts occasionally in advertisements. Being in the position of check it makes be unresonably happy. You're probably wondering how dull my life is if something like this gets me excited. The answer: not as dull as it appears.

These are the beers from a few months later (May 1939):

Adnams beers in 1939
Date	Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl
22nd May	XX	Mild Ale	1029	1006.1	3.03	78.99%	4.93	0.58
24th May	XXXX	Old Ale	1055	1017.7	4.93	67.77%	6.94	1.53
23rd May	PA	Pale Ale	1039	1010.0	3.84	74.43%	8.00	1.27
8th Jun	DS	Stout	1042	1013.3	3.80	68.34%	5.78	1.01
Source:
Adnams brewing record Book 26 held at the brewery.

Adnams beers fit in really well with the interwar strength/price matrix. Looking at the gravities, XX, Double Stout and XXXX would sell for 4d, 6d and 8d per pint, on draught in a public bar. Bottled pints went for about 1d more than draughts, so it all makes perfect sense.

But have you noticed something odd? When you compare the advert and my table? All will be revealed tomorrow.

Tetley's beers in 1939

To say Tetley started the war with an unusual range of beers is a bit of an understatement. Four Mild Ales, a Bitter and a Strong Ale.

Some of the Milds had a very long history. X1 and X2 had been around since at least the 1840s. That’s an awfully long time. Managing to survive WW I as a strong Mild was quite an achievement.

K had been around quite a while, arriving in the 1860s. Though it seems to have changed character, and possibly even style, since its inception. Early versions were incredibly lightly hopped – 2 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt – when their Mild were getting between 6 lbs and 8 lbs.

In the 1880s, when the hopping rate of Milds dropped to between 4 lbs and 6lbs, that of K was boosted to 10 lbs. A massive change. Which seems to have transformed K into a Pale Ale. When the stronger PA was dropped towards the end of WW I, it became Tetley’s only Bitter.

F – which surely stands for Family Ale – is a beer I can remember. In the 1970s, unavailable on draught, it was essentially bottled Mild. I’m not sure if this version was ever sold on draught. I suspect it might have, given that it’s around the strength of interwar Ordinary Mild.

While X1 looks very much like a 6d per pint Best Mild. X2 I’m really not sure about. It’s awfully strong for a 1930s Mild. I can’t remember seeing another of this strength. So perhaps it was sold as a draught Old Ale.

The hopping rates are very low. More in line with Scotland than England. Fullers. For example, hopped their Mild and Burton Ales at 7 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) or malt and their Pale Ales at 9 lbs. While Lees over the Pennines hopped both their Mild and Bitter and around 7 lbs per quarter.

What’s missing from the set? A Stout of any description. I could just have missed it. But it’s also missing from the records from the 1920s and earlier 1930s which I have.

Tetley's beers in 1939
Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl	Pitch temp
F	Mild	1034.9	1011.6	3.08	66.67%	3.76	0.51	62º
X1	Mild	1042.4	1011.4	4.10	73.20%	3.76	0.61	63º
X1 Pale	Mild	1042.9	1013.9	3.85	67.74%	4.23	0.71	63º
X2	Mild	1055.4	1011.9	5.75	78.50%	4.72	1.08	62º
K	Pale Ale	1047.9	1011.6	4.80	75.72%	4.77	0.88	62º
XXX	Strong Ale	1090.9	1030.2	8.03	66.77%	4.72	1.76	62º
Source:
Tetley brewing record held at the West Yorkshire Archive Services, document number WYL756/ACC3349/557.

 

Let's Brew - 1940 Barclay Perkins X (Dark)

Even this early in the war its effects were starting to be felt by brewers and drinkers. X has had 3º skimmed off its gravity.

There have been some changes to the grist, too. The quantity of pale malt has been massively reduced, replaced by more mild malt. Flaked rice arrives in place of flaked maize. But there’s about 50% less of it, the slack being taken up by No. 3 invert. I’ve added an extra 0.25 lb of No. 3 invert to allow for the primings, which raised the effective OG by about 2º.

The base malt was rather more complex than at first sight. The pale malt was split evenly between Hama (Middle East) and Californian. While about a third of what I have as mild malt was actually SA malt. Malt made from foreign barley wouldn’t be around for much longer as, for various reasons, imports of brewing grains dried up.

If you use the recipe below, but swap out 0.25 lbs of No. 3 for No. 1 invert, you’ll get the pale version of X. To get the colour right for the dark version, you’ll need to add sufficient caramel to raise it to 20 SRM.

The hops are also more complex than at first sight. They’re all Mid-Kent Fuggles from the 1939 harvest, but there are three different types.

1940 Barclay Perkins X (Dark)
pale malt	0.50 lb	7.01%
mild malt	3.75 lb	52.59%
crystal malt 60 L	0.33 lb	4.63%
amber malt	0.25 lb	3.51%
flaked rice	0.75 lb	10.52%
No. 3 invert sugar	1.50 lb	21.04%
caramel 1000 SRM	0.05 lb	0.70%
Fuggles 90 mins	0.75 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	0.50 oz
Fuggles 30 mins	0.50 oz
OG	1034
FG	1008
ABV	3.44
Apparent attenuation	76.47%
IBU	30
SRM	15
Mash at	144º F
After underlet	152º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	61º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread ale

How to tackle tax increases

I always wondered a couple of things about Australian beer when I lived there. Why was it stronger than beer in the UK and why did they use such weird glass sizes.

This aricle in the excellent Time Gents blog explains it.

It's all to do with price inelasticity and tax increases. And it forms an interesting contrast with what occurred in the UK.

In the 20th century, brewers struggled with small tax increases. Mostly beacuse of the limitations of the currency. The cheapest beer only cost 2d per pint and the smallest coin was a farthing (a quarter penny).  What did you do if a tax increase raised the price by 12.5% (as happened in 1901)? If you raised the price of Mild from 2d to 2.25d, what price would you sell a half pint for?

The brewers found a simple solution: they just dropped the OG enough so the beer could still retail for the same price. Which also caused less unrest amongst drinkers, as the price of their pint remained the same. Quite inportant pre-WW I, when the price of beer had been constant for 40 or 50 years. And, initially, drinkers probably wouldn't notice the difference in strength.

Australian brewing struggled with the same challenges when the tax on beer was increased. Drinkers didn't want to pay more for their beer, and there were limits on the currency.

But a different approach was taken. Mostly because it was the publicans, rather than the brewers, who were calling the shots. Rather than increase the price, they reduced the glass size. As only Imperial Pints and half pints were controlled measures, new glasses, such as the schooner, were introduced.

When introduced in 1932, a New South Wales schooner was 18 fluid ounces, just a little smaller than an Imperial pint. By 1945 it was down to just 13 fluid ounces.

So while UK drinkers got the same quantity of weaker beer, Australians got less beer, but at the same price.

Drybrough's beers in 1948

No brewery was immune to changes in its beers during WW II. Government control of raw materials and the quantity of beer which could be brewed impacted all brewers heavily.

Though Drybrough appear to have suffered less than some, especially when it came to cuts in gravity. Why was that? Because their gravities were quite low to start with. The vast bulk of the beer Drybrough brewed at the start of the war was 60/- PA, and that was 4º below the average OG for the UK of 1041º. Only two of its beers, 80/- PA and Burns Ale were above average OG and both were brewed in minute quantities.

But that doesn’t mean that there weren’t considerable strength reductions across Drybrough’s whole range. 60/- in 1948 was weaker than 54/- had been before the war. That is, just about barely intoxicating.

It’s interesting to see that Drybrough still lacked a beer in the Ordinary Bitter class. 54/- and 60/- are more like English Milds in strength. And 80/- was like a Best Bitter. An Ordinary Bitter was missing until around 1960, when Keg Heavy was introduced at 1037º.

The hopping rate has fallen since 1936 from around 5 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt to 4 lbs. Or about 20%, which exactly the reduction demanded by the government in June 1941.

I wouldn’t pay too much attention to the FGs quoted in the table. The last gravity listed in Drybrough’s brewing records is the cleansing gravity, not the racking gravity. The real FGs, I know from analyses of their beers as sold, were a good bit lower. As this table shows:

Drybrough beers 1946 - 1949
Year	Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation
1946	60/- Ale	Pale Ale	1029.5	1007.5	2.85	74.58%
1946	60/- Ale	Pale Ale	1030	1008.5	2.78	71.67%
1947	80/- Ale	Pale Ale	1034	1008	3.37	76.47%
1948	Strong Ale	Strong Ale	1060	1019.5	5.25	67.50%
1949	PA 60/-	Pale Ale	1030	1004.5	3.32	85.00%
Source:
Thomas Usher Gravity Book document TU/6/11

1948 wasn't the nadir for Drybrough's beers in terms of strength. That was the year earlier, when 54/-, 60/- and XXP were 1026º, 1029º, 1036º, respectively.

Drybrough's beers in 1948
Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl	Pitch temp
P 54/-	Pale Ale	1027	1011	2.12	59.26%	3.96	0.45	60º
P 60/-	Pale Ale	1030	1011	2.51	63.33%	4.33	0.56	59.5º
XXP	Pale Ale	1041	1014	3.57	65.85%	3.96	0.68	60º
Burns	Strong Ale	1070	1031	5.16	55.71%	4.33	1.30	59º
Source:
Drybrough brewing record held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document number D/6/1/1/6.

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1909 Whitbread IPA

Time for another genuine English IPA recipe, I think. One that was really brewed in England and marketed as IPA. Rather than what American home brewers think English IPA shoule be like by reverse engineering it from US versions. I'm pretty sure this beer fails to meet any IPA guidelines.

Whitbread first brewed their IPA in 1900. Making this a fairly early iteration of the beer.

Just to confuse modern style Nazis, it was lower in gravity that the Pale Ale that they had been brewing since 1865. That beer had an OG of around 1060º. One thing that does fit in with modern ideas is the hopping rate, which was slightly higher for the IPA.

There’s not much to the recipe. Just pale malt, invert sugar and a load of Goldings. Not as crazy as in some 19th-century beers, but enough to give calculated IBUs in the 60s.

It’s possible at this date that the colour was adjusted with caramel at racking time.

1909 Whitbread IPA
pale malt	8.00 lb	80.00%
no. 1 sugar	2.00 lb	20.00%
Goldings 90 mins	1.75 oz
Goldings 60 mins	1.75 oz
Goldings 30 mins	1.75 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.50 oz
OG	1049.6
FG	1015
ABV	4.58
Apparent attenuation	69.76%
IBU	68
SRM	6
Mash at	151º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	105 minutes
pitching temp	59º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread ale

The above is one of the many recipes in my book Let's Brew!

And I've recently created a Kindle version of the book.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08348M2D7

Bavaria memories

Remembering one of my last trips to Bavaria.

See how many locations you can identify.

Drybrough's sugars and hops in 1936

Of course, malts and adjuncts weren’t the only ingredients in Maclay’s beers. There were also sugars. If you count malt extract, there were more types of sugar than malt.

The sugars come to about exactly 10% of the total. Which is fairly typical for the UK in general. 70-75% malt, 15-20% adjunct, 10% sugar was pretty standard. Though there was the odd brewery that dispensed with adjuncts. And others, such as William Younger, which used very little sugar.

I’ll be honest: I’ve know next to nothing about Avona. Other than that it was a proprietary sugar and intended to be added in the copper. Fison I at least know refers to the name of the producer. Though its exact nature remains a total mystery.

The sugar called invert is slightly more specific. Though it would be nice to know exactly which type of invert was used. Given that the beers were relatively pale, as brewed, it has to be either No. 1 or No. 2 invert.

In the recipes which follow, I’ve substituted No. 2 invert for all of the sugars. It’s probably about as close as you’re going to get to the original sugars.

From the 193os on, quite a lot of smaller breweries employed both diastatic malt extract (DME) and enzymatic malt in small quantities. Presumably out of fear of insufficient enzymes to fully convert the mash. I’ve never seen the practice at a large brewery. Presumably because they had brewing chemists who knew better.

The hops used were Oregon from the 1934 harvest and English from the 1934 and 1935 harvests. Because of their high alpha-acid content and not much appreciated aroma, American hops were often used when quite old. When the war started, some older US hops continue to appear in the brewing records for a while, but after a year or two it’s 100% English.

Drybrough's sugars in 1936
Date	Year	OG	malt extract	Fison	Avona	invert	total
P 54/-	Pale Ale	1031	0.91%	1.82%	3.65%	3.65%	10.03%
Bottling	Pale Ale	1033	0.91%	1.82%	3.64%	3.64%	10.02%
P 60/-	Pale Ale	1037	0.87%	1.74%	4.65%	3.49%	10.75%
P 80/-	Pale Ale	1050	0.87%	1.74%	4.65%	3.49%	10.75%
Burns	Strong Ale	1084	0.89%	7.10%			7.99%
Source:
Drybrough brewing record held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document number D/6/1/1/4.

Drybrough's malts in 1936

Drybrough was also typically Scottish when it came to the ingredients they used. There was a very limited palette of malts.

There was little other than base malt. There was a small amount of enzymic malt and a minute amount to black malt for colour adjustment. Plus everyone’s favourite adjunct, flaked maize.

Though the malt situation was a little more complicated, as there were multiple types of pale malt. Typically for the pre-war period, the barley from which the malt was made came from all over the world. It would, however, have all been malted in the UK. While large quantities of barley were imported, no malt was.

This is the breakdown of the pale malts for the 60/- and 80/-. The other beers had the same types, but not in exactly the same proportions:

malt	quarters	%
Scotch	3	15%
Chilean	2	10%
Tunis	7	35%
Californian	8	40%
Total	20

Only 15% of the malt was made from UK-grown barley. All the rest had been imported. It’s not unusual for UK beers of the period to include large quantities of foreign barley, but this is quite an extreme example.

Drybrough's malts in 1936
Date	Year	OG	pale malt	black malt	enzymic malt	flaked maize
P 54/-	Pale Ale	1031	75.51%	0.78%	1.64%	12.04%
Bottling	Pale Ale	1033	69.20%	0.76%	1.82%	18.21%
P 60/-	Pale Ale	1037	69.75%	0.31%	1.74%	17.44%
P 80/-	Pale Ale	1050	69.75%	0.31%	1.74%	17.44%
Burns	Strong Ale	1084	77.20%	1.51%		13.31%
Source:
Drybrough brewing record held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document number D/6/1/1/4.

Drybrough’s beers in 1936

On the eve of WW II, Drybrough had a pretty limited range of beers: four Pale Ales and a Strong Ale. Which was fairly typical of most Scottish breweries. After WW I, they mostly gave up on styles like Mild Ale and Stout.

Though the reality was slightly more complicated. Because I know from other sources that Drybrough did market beers in other styles. For example, I’ve a couple of analyses for a beer called Nourishing Stout. Based on its gravity, I’d guess it was really 54/- with some special primings added at racking time.

It’s worth remembering that average OG was 1041º in 1936.  The vast majority of beer Drybrough produced was well below that level. Because at least 80% of their output was in the form of 60/-. Which was around the strength of an Ordinary Mild in England. And 60/- seems to have filled the same slot as Mild did in England. Something which was also the case after WW II.

Notable is what’s missing: a beer of classic Ordinary Bitter strength, which in the 1930’s would have been around 1045º. A beer which South of the border would have been one of a brewery’s biggest sellers. While Pale Ales of gravities as low as 54/- weren’t very common in England, except in country districts where beer tended to be weaker.

The hopping rate for the Pale Ales, at a little under 5 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt, is very low. In England 7 to 9 lbs was usual. But it’s typical of Scottish brewers. From the final decades of the 19th century onwards, Scottish hopping rates diverged from those of England, falling to significantly lower levels.

I wouldn’t pay too much attention to the FGs and rates of attenuation. The gravities given in Drybrough’s brewing logs is the racking gravity. I know from analyses of Drybrough’s beers as sold that the actual degree of attenuation was 75-80%.

Drybrough's beers in 1936
Date	Year	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl	Pitch temp
P 54/-	Pale Ale	1031	1011.5	2.58	62.90%	4.86	0.61	59º
Bottling	Pale Ale	1033	1012	2.78	63.64%	4.86	0.64	61º
P 60/-	Pale Ale	1037	1013.5	3.11	63.51%	4.93	0.74	60º
P 80/-	Pale Ale	1050	1015	4.63	70.00%	4.93	1.00	59º
Burns	Strong Ale	1084	1030	7.14	64.29%	6.30	2.48	59.5º
Source:
Drybrough brewing record held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document number D/6/1/1/4.

Let's Brew - 1940 Fullers No. 2 PA

Late in 1940, Fullers introduced a new Pale Ale, No. 2 PA. Slightly odd, as the three they already brewed seemed like too many.

In terms of strength, it was about exactly halfway between XK and PA, which I suppose was the idea. Though exactly why they needed a half Best Bitter, I’m not sure. Perhaps it replaced the old PA in some pubs.

Not that a huge amount of No. 2 PA was being brewed. In this four-way parti-gyle, just 27 barrels were No. 2. While there were 162.5 barrels of PA, 100 barrels of XK and 2 barrels of AK. It’s odd that the strongest example was the one most was being brewed of.

There hasn’t really been much fiddling with the recipe. Just the flaked maize has been replaced by flaked rice. Something which I’ve observed at multiple breweries in 1940. Meaning it was a change that was dictated rather that chosen.

The oddest feature is that, with all the other Pale Ales having been dropped, it was brewed single-gyle. Something Fullers had never done with their Pale Ales.

Not much to report about the hops. They were all English and all from the 1939 harvest.

1940 Fullers No. 2 PA
pale malt	8.75 lb	87.41%
flaked rice	1.00 lb	9.99%
No. 2 invert sugar	0.125 lb	1.25%
glucose	0.125 lb	1.25%
caramel 1000 SRM	0.01 lb	0.10%
Fuggles 90 min	1.50 oz
Goldings 30 min	1.50 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.50 oz
OG	1042.5
FG	1012
ABV	4.03
Apparent attenuation	71.76%
IBU	39
SRM	5
Mash at	148º F
After underlet	154º F
Sparge at	168º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	61º F
Yeast	WLP002 English Ale

The Home Brewer's Guide to Vintage Beer

Remember me asking if you'd be interested in a signed copy of my masterpiece, The Home Brewer's Guide to Vintage Beer?

Despite being out of print, this wonderful introduction to vintage British beer styles and how to brew them, is still available. If you just look to the left.

You can order a signed copy at the click of a button. Which will set my fulfillment organisation into action. And within a few days you'll have the best book ever written abouthistoric British brewing in your perspiring digits.

Just look to your left. Click, buy.

Then, perhaps, the kids will get a holiday this year.

Hops in WW II

Britain was in a far less vulnerable position in regard to hop supply in WW II than it had been in WW I, for the simple fact that the UK was far less dependent on imports.

In 1914, the UK was far from self-sufficient in hops. Large quantities of hops were imported, the biggest source by far being the USA. Hops were still travelling East across the Atlantic in 1939, but in nothing like the quantities they had been before WW I.

The main other sources of hop imports were central Europe, which provided classy one like Hallertau and Saaz, and Belgium which provided cheap and cheerful Poperinge.

Due to shortages, the government compelled brewers to reduce their hopping rates:

"Consumption of hops by brewers was cut in June, 1941, under instructions of the Ministry of Food, by 20% of the rate used per standard barrel."
1955 Brewers' Almanack, page 64.

Problems with hop supply began early in the war:

"The reduction in hop supplies has been serious. In June, 1941, a 20 per cent cut was imposed in the gross amount available to the trade. The actual quantity which passed through the Hops Marketing Board (which controls hops and their distribution) was 75 per cent of the total brewers' nominations. These nominations would have been the same in 1941 as the consumption during the datum year, if as many standard barrels had been brewed as in that year. But in 1942 the nominations, themselves, had to be cut by 20 per cent, and then only 80 per cent of the nominations were available, i.e., 64 per cent of the prewar quantities. In the present year hop rates in practice are about 1 to 1.2 lb per standard barrel, i.e., about 0.3 per cent, whereas in normal times this would have been almost double.

Hops are obtainable only under license, and a brewer who runs short may apply to the Brewers' Society for permission to secure a further allowance from his nominated merchants. Brewers usually carry a stock of hops over from one season to the next, new hops rarely being used. By now all reserves of this kind have been used up and brewers are living from hand to mouth; in many cases they have to use the new season's hops as soon as these are delivered. Matters were not helped during the London blitz back in late 1940, when some 50,000 pockets of hops were burnt. It was also on this occasion that the historic building, Brewers' Hall — the home of the Institute of Brewing — was completely destroyed."
"Wallenstein Laboratories Communications, December 1943, Volume VI, number 19" pages 156 - 157.

 This is an excerpt from, if all goes well, will be my 2020 book. Can you guess what the subject is?

Hop and hop product imports 1938 - 1949
Year ended 31st March	Hops	Hop Oil	Hop Extracts. Essences, and similar Preparations	Net Receipts from Duty
	Cwt.	Oz.	Oz.	£
1938	45,336	125	487	177,660
1939	44,056	101	—	170,930
1940	2,024	72	—	7,860
1941	11,055	32	—	42,009
1942	171	161	24,392	883
1943	3,254	684	7,712	13,669
1944	134	100	209,152	1,479
1945	30	—	967,061	4,413
1946	563	—	3,558,892	18,118
1947	26,928	—	1,424,748	113,937
1948	7,766	—	—	30,710
1949	§174	—	—	738
§ Excess of Drawbacks.
Source:
1955 Brewers' Almanack, page 64.

US Northwest in May

I've got either end of the trip in Seattle sorted out. Now I just need the sandwich filling.

I'm looking at setting up a couple of events in Idaho and Montana. These are the days that I need to fill:

Sunday 17th May
Monday 18th May
Tuesday 19th May
Wednesday 20th May

I'm pretty easy about exactly where, though I do need to be able to get there easily from Seattle.

If you're a brewery or a home brew club and would like to hear one of the world's leading beer historians*, get in touch.





* There are only around a dozen of us.

Beers on sale in a post-war pub

I just came across this rather useful price list from just after the war.

Useful, in that is shows the range of beers on sale. At least the ones brewed by Flowers themselves. There's at least one beer from another brewer excluded: Guinness Extra Stout.

The selection isn't enormous. Just two draught and four bottled beers. The draughts are what you would expect: Bitter and Mild. Not many surprises in the bottles, either: a strong Pale Ale, Light Ale, Brown Ale and Stout. It's about the minimum you would expect from an English brewery.

"RETAIL PRICES
Flower’s Ales and Stout directed to he sold by Flower and Sons, Ltd., at all their houses throughout the Midland Counties

DRAUGHT BEERS
Description	LOUNGE, SMOKE ROOM AND AND BEST BAR	PUBLIC BAR AND OUTDOOR
India Pale Ale	1/4d. per pint	1/3d. per pint
XXX Mild Ale	1/3d. per pint	1/2d. per pint

BOTTLED BEERS
Description	LOUNGE, SMOKE ROOM AND AND BEST BAR		PUBLIC BAR AND OUTDOOR
	Large	Small	Large	Small
India Pale Ale "Gold Top"	-	1/1.5d.	-	1/1d.
Light Bitter Beer "Red Top"	1/4d.	8.5d.	1/3d.	8d.
Brown Ale "Brown Top"	1/4d.	8.5d.	1/3d.	8d.
Flower‘s Stout "Yellow Top"	1/5d.	9d.	1/4d.	8.5d.

FLOWER'S ALE
The Famous Ale from Stratford - upon - Avon."
Leamington Spa Courier - Friday 15 October 1948, page 6.

 One of the reasons I was so keen on finding this particular price list is that I've a Flowers brewing record from just a few years later. The beer range is considerably more extensive.

Flowers beers in 1955
Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl
PX	Pale Ale	1030.3	1011.5	2.49	62.05%	6.00	0.79
LA	Pale Ale	1030	1007	3.04	76.67%	6.00	0.78
Green Label	Pale Ale	1047	1015	4.23	68.09%	7.24	1.34
BX	Brown Ale	1030.4	1009	2.83	70.39%	5.02	0.59
IPA	IPA	1034.2	1009	3.33	73.68%	7.59	0.98
OB	Pale Ale	1043.4	1011	4.29	74.65%	7.23	1.23
PX	Pale Ale	1030.4	1011	2.57	63.82%	6.19	0.73
XXX	Mild	1032.4	1010	2.96	69.14%	5.08	0.65
Shakespeare Ale	Strong Ale	1075.4	1027	6.40	64.19%	8.86	2.66
Stout	Stout	1039.8	1014.5	3.35	63.57%	7.17	1.14
Source:
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust DR227/215 Brewing Record Book No 2

Some are easy to match up with the price list. IPA and XXX are obviously the two draught beers. BX and LA look like the Brown Ale and Light Bitter.

The bottled Stout and IPA are trickier. At over 2 shillings a pint, bottled IPA was obviously a different beer from the draught version. Green Label or OB would be my guess. At just about 1040º, the Stout in the brewing record looks too strong to retail for just 1d more per pint than the Light Bitter and Brown Ale. My guess is that this version had a lower OG, somewhere around 1035º.